Possible Measles Exposure At Mercer Hospital, Health Officials Warn

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — A person with measles could have exposed others to the disease at a Mercer County hospital last week, the NJ Department of Health said Friday.

The person visited the Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell, Emergency Department in Pennington from 5: 15 p.m. on March 22 to 1:30 a.m. on March 23.

Exposed individuals, if infected, could develop symptoms as late as April 12, health officials said.

NJDOH recommends that anyone who visited the location during the specified dates and times may have been exposed and should contact a healthcare provider immediately to discuss potential exposure and risk of developing the illness.

NJDOH is working in collaboration with local health officials on ongoing contact tracing and efforts to notify people who might have been exposed and to identify additional exposures that may have occurred.

As of Friday, no additional associated cases in New Jersey have been identified.

The measles virus poses the greatest threat to people who lack protective antibodies, which typically come from either receiving the full MMR vaccine series or surviving a past measles infection.

Measles symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose, watery red eyes, and a rash that usually appears between three and five days after symptoms begin. The rash usually begins as flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline and spread downward to the neck, torso, arms, legs, and feet.

Measles can also cause serious complications, such as pneumonia and encephalitis (swelling of the brain), and can lead to miscarriage in pregnant people, premature birth, or a low-birth-weight baby.

The virus spreads easily through the air when someone coughs or sneezes and can remain in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves the area. People can also get sick when they come in contact with mucus or saliva from an infected person.

NJDOH encourages all residents to stay up-to-date on routine vaccinations.

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